Hinging down-spout assemblies of the prior art have had pivot bolts connecting two tubular gathering sections together so that a section which is normally horizontal can be swung into vertical position, but such pivot bolts have the disadvantage of catching leaves whereby the guttering tends to clog. Sometimes this clogging is made worse by water freezing around the leaves, resulting in a non-functioning guttering system.
Other disadvantages of the prior art have chiefly been costly waste of construction and it is an object of this invention to provide an effective hinged guttering down-spout assembly of economical construction for easy affordability, and one that uses a hinge on the outside rather than a pivot bolt on the inside so that clogging by leaves and twigs is avoided.
Another objective of this invention is to provide for a minimizing of leakage at times when the water flow is heavy.
In the prior art proposals for hinging down-spouts have sometimes been very expensive in the attempt to achieve a down-spout that will lower itself when the rain comes. It is my concept that a hinging down-spout must be inexpensive and of the least bulk so as to be attractive and not have a self-lowering feature so as to be simple, compact and attractive.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to use a lapping section, lapping two elongated sections and fastened to one of them, whereby if the lapping section extends generally horizontally, then if the elongated horizontal section is in the upper storage position at a time when a rain comes, then at least the bulk of the water will be directed by the lapping section to flow at a right angle outwardly from the vertical down-spout section, thereby minimizing the effect which a non-lowering of the swinging down-spout section would have.
I have discovered that the lapping section can be made of a piece of the same material from which the elongated sections are made so as to have the same beveled corners and the same appearance with economy of construction. At first this would seem impossible but I have found that by bending the lapping section into a somewhat different shape that adjacent parts of the horizontal section, the lapping section will receive the horizontal section very well, and will direct water into it almost completely, and even more so if a gasket, which I propose, is disposed between the lapping section and the horizontal section. This makes an attractive appearance, as all three sections seem to match.
Another object of this invention is to provide a down-spout assembly, either end of which can be used in the vertical position, so that the customer can have a choice in that matter.
It is also important that the down-spout, when folded, have no unusual sharpness projecting out where it could injure a person passing and striking the sharp projection by cutting into a child's bare foot or digging into the bone of a person's shin.